On Wednesday, January 20, the Wisconsin Union Directorate voted to bring Ayaan Hirsi Ali to campus on February 2nd. The Distinguished Lecture Series is proud to be highlighting one of the world’s leading feminist voices. With this lecture, sure to be the most controversial campus event most UW students will have the opportunity to attend, DLS continues its commitment to free speech, open discussion and humanist ideals.

Tickets become available to students at the Union Theater box office on Tuesday, January 26th. Remaining tickets will be available to the public on Friday, January 29th. This event is expected to sell out — get your tickets early.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali captured the world’s attention with “Infidel,” the acclaimed, eye-opening memoir of her Muslim childhood in Africa and Saudi Arabia and her eventual escape to the Netherlands to avoid an arranged marriage and become a Dutch politician. After a Dutch director with whom she made a documentary about the mistreatment of Muslim women was murdered by a radical Islamist, death threats forced Hirsi Ali into hiding, ultimately leading her to the United States, where she works as a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. In addition to “Infidel,” she is the author of “The Caged Virgin.” Now, in “Nomad,” her most recent book, she tells the story of her search for a new life in America as she tries to reconcile the contradictions of her Islamic past with her adherence to belief in democracy, equality and reason.

There will be a book signing and reception following Hirsi Ali’s lecture, and an opportunity for 15 minutes of audience-initiated Q&A. Come prepared for stimulating discussion on the central issues of our time.

(Growing) List of Co-Sponsors:
University Housing
Chadbourne Residential College
A Room of One’s Own Bookstore
American Civil Liberties Union, UW Chapter
Wisconsin Center for the Study of Liberal Democracy
UW-Madison Human Rights Initiative
Committee on Academic Freedom and Rights
UW Atheists, Humanists and Agnostics
UW UNICEF
Students of Objectivism
The Onion

NOTE: No bags will be allowed into the event. Security for this lecture will be very high, as Ms. Hirsi Ali requires constant police protection during her time at UW-Madison.